During a recent Empowerment Exploration Call, I spent an hour working with an incredible guy who eloquently summarized what I hear so often in these calls and what I've felt myself at different times...

I feel like I’m on a treadmill - like I’m not going anywhere.

We've all felt that, right? Like the world of opportunity has passed us by and there's no getting off this train of meaningless work and boring play. The monotony is numbing.

I've heard some form of this sentence many times, "I've lost thousands upon thousands of dollars and 5-10 years being trapped on this treadmill."

It's not a small thing to be stagnant. When you're stuck in the mud it feels like it would take a Herculean effort to get moving again. When there's no wind in your sails it feels like you'll never ever get moving fast enough to catch up to your cohorts (this competition thing is crazy-making).

What's in your way? I ask everyone... even myself oftentimes.

"Me. Mostly."

If you could kick the person in the pants responsible for most of your trouble, you wouldn’t sit for a month.

— Theodore Roosevelt

Self-doubt is a brutal blocker to our successes in life. It's draining of our creativity and it is just plain painful. But there is hope.

But there is hope.

Where you are responsible for your trouble, you are also capable of your liberation. You can decide to switch off the treadmill and go for a run outdoors on a completely new path. You can tackle new things not because you're Hercules, but because new things don't have to be so scary.

Here's how to get off of the treadmill of self-doubt today:

1. Write down what you want to achieve... like on a piece of paper. Use this format: "I want to feel _______, to do _________, and to be _________. " Leave a little space at the bottom of the paper.

2. Write down, below your broad new goals, this sentence, "I deserve to feel, do, and be these things for no reason at all."

3. Put that piece of paper on the surface of the thing you see the most everyday - computer screen, cubicle wall, rear-view mirror, whatever. Say these two sentences as many times as you can (especially in the morning), for the next 5 days and see if you start to feel that first part.

4. Do the next easiest "to do" action that comes to mind to help you accomplish your "to be" goal. It could be really really really easy. Like, "today I'm going to write a single sentence toward my novel," or "I'm going to send an email to an old mentor and ask if he/she has any time for a phone call this week," or "I'm going to do 10 pushups."

5. Celebrate your first small success. You are successful. Now all you have to do is string together a few more small successes.

Next steps... involve other people in your success story. Start below in the comments section or send me an email.